Water Bending
Waterbending, one of the four elemental bending arts, is the hydrokinetic ability to control water, as well as its many forms. The people of the Water Tibes utilize this type of bending. The Water Tribes are divided into the Southern Water Tribe, the Northern Water tribe, and the lesser known Foggy Swamp Tribe, each with their own bending style. Water is the element of change.The moon is the source of power in Waterbending, and the original Waterbenders learned from the moon by observing how the moon pushed and pulled the tides.The Water Tribes are the only people to not learn Bending from an animal. The fighting style of Waterbending is mostly flowing and graceful, acting in concert with the environment. Foggy Swamp Style Waterbending, however, is more rigid and straight - likely in concert with the often stagnant nature of swamp water. Waterbenders deal with the flow of energy; they let their defense become their offense, turning their opponents' own forces against them. Origin The people of the Water Tribe first learned Waterbending by observing how the moon pushed and pulled the tides of the ocean. They then learned how to simulate the effect themselves.[1] As such, they have a strong spiritual connection to the Moon (and its counterpart the Ocean), and any adverse effects on these mediums can affect them too. This makes Waterbenders the only type of benders who did not learn bending from an animal, although since the Moon and Ocean spirits take the form of animals, they could possibly classify as the animal Waterbending originated from. ". Fighting Style Waterbending is based on a style of Tai Chi Chuan (specifically the Yang style). It is a Chinese martial art that features slow movements and elegant forms that evoke the feel of flowing water. Waterbending's strength is its great versatility. Rather than supporting a separate set of offensive methods, Waterbending employs defensive techniques that can be transformed into attacks and counters - defense into offense. Instead of simply deflecting an attack, Waterbending's defensive maneuvers focus on control, achieved through turning an opponent's own strength against him, rather than directly harming the opponent. Healing Healing is a sub-skill of Waterbending which involves healing wounds by redirecting energy paths (or chi) throughout the body, using water as a catalyst. In the Northern Water Tribe, this ability is the only aspect of Waterbending taught to female Waterbenders, due to the traditionally patriarchal culture of the tribe. It is not known to what extent the Northern Water Tribe teaches healing to men; no male Waterbender has been shown using this ability in the series. In rare cases, a Waterbender may develop this ability without any specific training. Due to the extremely low number of Southern Water Tribe Waterbenders and the limited knowledge concerning Foggy Swamp Waterbenders, it is unknown whether this skill is a Northern Water Tribe specialty or whether the skill was at one time known throughout the Water Tribes. Bloodbending Bloodbending is a sepicalized technique within the art of Waterbending that allows a Waterbender to hydrokinetically take hold of the various fluids contained within a living organism's body, then manipulate them so as to control the movement of the subject or subjects in question. The technique was discovered by a young Waterbender named Hama while imprisoned in a containment facility designed by the Fire Nation specifically to hold Waterbenders. She concluded that all life contains water, so she proceeded to develop knowledge and skill of the art by practicing on Elephant Rats. Due to the extremity of its nature, Bloodbending is deemed by most to be a dark art and as such, is rarely used in combat. The infrequent application of Bloodbending in day-to-day activities is also due to the fact that the complexity and sophistication required to perform the art only allows for its use during a full moon, when a Waterbender's power is at its absolute peak.